How to Make a Mini Book

This simple mini book, while quick and easy to make, is also highly versatile and makes a great backdrop for a variety of stamping projects. The little book is made from a single sheet of paper and you will get a great looking mini book whether you use letter or A4 sized paper. Mini books are a great project for children. They love making these little books and a great activity for youngsters is to give them some rubber stamps and encourage them to create their own stories in the mini book.

Simple Mini Book Design

The book is made from simply folding the paper and making a strategic cut along the center to form the pages. The finished book has eight sides. You could therefore consider the book to have a cover and seven pages or a cover and back with six pages. This lends itself to all sorts of possibilities. You can decorate the book and use it as a mini scrapbook or use it to tell a short story for a young one. The little book could make a great week planner or by adding two months to a page, small diary.

Mini Book Instructions

These little books are simple to make. Here's how:Note: These instructions assume that you have the paper in front of you portrait style (longer edge up).

With the paper folded in half horizontally, fold it in half again. If you open the paper at this point you should have eight equal rectangles marked.

Open the paper back up so it is folded once, horizontally and then cut using scissors or a craft knife, from the center fold to the first fold line (Image: 1), unfold the paper.

Now, here's the clever bit (if you are doing this project with children then this is the part of the project that they love as the paper turns 'magically' from being a sheet of paper into a little book), fold the paper in half vertically. Take hold of the rectangle at either end and then push the paper together. The slit that you cut will open up to form a diamond shape (Image: 2). Keep pushing the ends together until they meet as shown in the photo above (Image: 3).

All that remains now is to carefully neaten the folds as necessary and to decorate the book with rubber stamps or other images.

Tips for Making a Mini Book

Here are some tips to help you create great looking mini books:

The principal of making this mini book remains the same regardless of the size of paper that you are using. You can therefore consider using any sized piece of paper to create your mini book. Experiment with scraps of paper and see what effects you achieve.

Consider joining some of the loose edges to make little pockets to contain special messages or keepsakes.

Only one side of paper will show, therefore you could use decorative paper if you are after a quick, yet colorful, finish.

If you want to make the book a little more substantial then try cutting a cover from a thicker paper or thin card stock and using this to make an outside cover. This will also help to stop the pages from coming undone.